Europe To Try To Keep Cup For Captain

Seve Ballesteros Won't Play But Has Molded The Team And Course The Americans Must Beat For The Ryder Cup.

September 26, 1997|By Jeff Babineau of The Sentinel Staff

SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN — The man responsible for breathing life into the once-dormant Ryder Cup matches no longer is chasing an elusive trophy.

Instead, it is in his hands, and he is trying to guard and protect it.

This is an undertaking of a different kind for brazen Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, who will captain Europe as it seeks to defend at the 32nd Ryder Cup, a three-day event that begins this morning at Valderrama on the southern coast of Spain.

Ballesteros never has been one to shy away from exploring new frontiers. Now 40 and struggling with his game, he once won tournaments through magical escape routes nobody else could find. He won the British Open in 1979, along the way saving par from a parking lot at Royal Lytham. He hit the ball all over the property at Augusta National and conquered the Masters twice, doing so with a steely grip and a diamond cutter's touch. He inspired. He elevated the game in Europe, forcing the others to improve or risk choking in all his dust.

''He won every open in Europe and advanced to winning majors,'' Europe's Nick Faldo said. ''He's been as good as anybody. He was our Arnold Palmer.''

For Ballesteros, the next three days might represent the biggest challenge of all. He must try to mesh together a 12-man team that includes a couple of stars, five rookies and several veterans past their prime years into a unit that must fend off a team which, on paper, is a prohibitive favorite in terms of talent.

The question that needs answering is this: Can Ballesteros ignite the internal fire of his team holding onto a walkie-talkie in the same manner he once did gripping a 5-iron?

On the eve of the Ryder Cup, one of golf's grandest events, his players seemed to believe he can.

''He always was going to be good (as captain),'' said Colin Montgomerie, who is regarded as Europe's top player. ''His intensity in trying to beat the Americans is second to none. It's fabulous. He's just being himself.''

Ballesteros being Ballesteros has many connotations. He can be engaging, and he can be childish. He can be influential, as evidenced by the fact the matches are in Spain for the first time. He can be controversial as well, as was the case when he branded ousted team member Miguel Angel Martin a ''kamikaze.''

One constant has remained through it all. Few have displayed so much heart and passion as Ballesteros. This Ryder Cup should be no exception. His stomach has been churning incessantly. Calm? His first set of four-ball pairings as captain rang into his head at 4 a.m. Thursday, when he was wide awake.

''When I'm playing in the majors,'' Ballesteros explained, ''I don't remember waking up at 4 a.m.''

Four foursomes (alternate-shot) matches will be played in the afternoon, with one point at stake in each.

The European players are driven to win the Ryder Cup for Ballesteros, but the fact he is serving as captain in his home country should inspire the U.S. as well. Veterans Ian Woosnam and Langer of Europe each were asked to name a favorite Ryder Cup memory, and both pointed to 1987, when Europe not only won the Cup, but did so at Ohio's Muirfield Village in then-U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus' back yard.

For the U.S., there are many similarities between this year and the setup the Europeans faced in '87. The visitors are playing an unfamiliar golf course the home team knows well - the PGA European Tour's Volvo Masters is played at Valderrama each year - and would cherish hoisting the Cup on turf belonging to Ballesteros, a man who has had his share of spirited collisions with American players.

Europe, usually type-cast in an underdog role, might be under more pressure than normal with so much as stake for its captain.

''This is a huge deal to everybody in Spain, especially Seve,'' Montgomerie said. ''It would be nice not to 'pay back' as such, but to retain the trophy that means so much to him personally. It would be a wonderful achievement.